“Why, I gave it to you long ago.  I wanted to punish you—­and now I’ve punished you enough.”

“Yes, you’ve punished me enough,” he conceded.

The tear gathered and fell down her thin cheek.  “It’s you who are punishing me now.  I tell you I’m false to the core.  Look back and see what I’ve done to you!”

He stood silent, with his eyes fixed on the ground.  Then he took one of her hands and raised it to his lips.

“You poor, good woman!” he said gravely.

Her hand trembled as she drew it away.  “You’re going to her—­straight from here?”

“Yes—­straight from here.”

“To tell her everything—­to renounce your hope?”

“That is what it amounts to, I suppose.”

She watched him cross the room and lay his hand on the door.

“Ah, you poor, good man!” she said with a sob.